Солидарността с палестинците не е реч на омразата

https://theguardian.com

Freedom of expression is imperilled when speakers are cancelled, whether by the left or the right.

Michael Eisen is sacked as editor of the biomedical journal eLife for retweeting a post from the satirical website the Onion headlined “Dying Gazans criticised for not using last words to condemn Hamas”. David Velasco, editor of Artforum, a leading art magazine, is fired for signing an open letter calling for “Palestinian liberation and… an end to the killing and harming of all civilians [and] an immediate ceasefire”. Columbia University suspends two student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. Hilton Hotels cancels a conference in Houston by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights after pressure from the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce.

Just a sample of cases over the past two months in which individuals and organisations, including many who are Jewish, have found themselves cancelled, banned or sacked for expressing solidarity with Palestinians. There has been much debate in recent years about “cancel culture”. Even so, the current pushback against speech deemed unacceptably supportive of Palestinians is startling in its intensity. Yet many of those who have made the greatest noise about cancel culture have been relatively quiet in recent weeks, while many on the left who previously welcomed censorship of ideas that they despised have become vocal about the curtailment of free speech.